President V. Lane Rawlins, in his public dialogue on March 22, told faculty and staff that support for WSU and its statewide mission is building. “From Prosser to Seattle to the urban campuses in Tri-Cities, Spokane and Vancouver,” Rawlins said, “there is a palpable excitement in the air as people embrace WSU’s mission as a statewide entity delivering services to many different sectors.”
Rawlins said this year’s budget and legislative session both emphasize how, as a university, WSU is no longer confined to one location. Just as Bryan Hall and Johnson Hall are individual places working under the same WSU leadership, so too are the WSU Spokane Intercollegiate College of Nursing and the WSU Tri-Cities Center for Bioproducts and Bioenergy.
Rawlins compared university to U.S. Bank and other financial institutions that have branches in cities across the state, noting that WSU is having a positive impact in communities throughout Washington.
Among other topics, the Rawlins also addressed his transition from the presidency. “I supposed you heard there is a new president coming,” he began. “I promised the Regents I would be here through the Legislative session, which is supposed to end around commencement time. I have been in touch with incoming President Elson Floyd on nearly a daily basis and we have planned that during the week of May 20th he will be moving in and I will be moving out.”
Rawlins also said that he and Floyd will attend the WSU Foundation Spring Meeting together in the end of May and that will complete the transition.
A full streamed version of Rawlins’ dialogue will be steamed and scheduled to be available on Friday, March 23, at http://www.experience.wsu.edu.
